


The Tattoo Artist and the Florist

by hpfreak123q



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-26
Updated: 2019-06-26
Packaged: 2020-05-20 07:11:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19371832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hpfreak123q/pseuds/hpfreak123q





	The Tattoo Artist and the Florist

 

* * *

* * *

Aqua wiped the sweat from her brow as she lifted her tattoo gun from her customer's skin. Taking a deep breath, she smiled and slid her special healing lotion over the newly finished roaring tiger tattoo. She sealed it off with plastic wrap and took the man to the lobby to get the final payment from him.

As she put the money in her till, she watched him exit her small shop, into the busy street outside.

She stood still, watching the cars go by, and drifting into her thoughts.

It had been two weeks since she opened this shop. And she was damn proud of herself for coming this far. She had gone from dumpster charity case to a real business owner.

At that moment, her apprentice, Axel, exited his studio.  
Parting the curtains that separated his tiny studio and yawning, he asked, "Hey Aqua? I think I'm going to go grab a coffee. Want me to get you anything?"

She watched as he scratched his flame red hair and stretched. His tummy showed a little as he reached so far above him.

She grinned and poked him on his exposed flesh. Laughing as he let out a gasp of surprise, she replied, "Yeah, an iced mocha, extra sugar."

"What was that for?!" He complained.  
"Any weakness shall be exploited, young padawan," she chuckled, then began leading him to the door. "Now, off you go. Fetch thy teacher the heavenly elixir."

Axel grumbled, and pulled his keys out of his pockets. "Anything else, Great Master Aqua?"

She shook her head smiling and replied, "See you later, padawan."

Watching him exit the shop and walk to his car, her smile faded slightly. She had told him that she didn't have the money to promote him to a full tattoo artist, and yet, he still chose to learn under her. She felt awful about it, like she was holding his ambitions up.

She sat down in one of the worn, but comfortable chair she had put in the lobby for customers to wait. Placing her head in her hands, she began mentally going over her bills again.

Eventually her mind couldn't focus anymore, and her thoughts shifted to her art. She thought of the color pallets she'd like to use on her next tattoo for herself. Perhaps something nature related, warm browns and greens?

When the door to the shop opened again, Aqua's head darted up. Immediately she had to squint, as the sun's glare was now filtering in through her glass door.

A warm masculine voice asked softly, "Do you work here miss?"

She held her hand up to shield her eyes as she stood up, trying to get a good look at her visitor. As she stepped, out of the sun's glare and into the light of her fluorescent light bulbs, she almost swallowed her tongue in her attempt not to gasp.

He was remarkably handsome, strong jaw, high cheeks, strong aqcuiline nose, and glittering blue eyes. And his hair was as brown as freshly dried mulch, the kind she had put on her window ledge garden this morning. His physique was heavily muscled, and his hands seemed to be covered in dirt. He was tall and wore a black tee shirt that seemed to be painted on him, and khaki pants.

He coughed and looked at her questioningly.

Quickly finding her voice, she said, "Yes, this is my shop. Welcome to The Guiding Key."

"I'm Terra. And I think I'd like to get a tattoo done here," he replied after a moment.

Swallowing, she pulled her art sample book from the shelf under the counter that held the till. She carefully opened it and placed it facing him on the plain white surface.

He perused her art with an inscrutable expression that made her nervous. It seemed to take him hours just to turn three pages, when in reality it was only a few minutes.

Clearing her throat, she said, "I have an apprentice artist....if...you'd prefer to see his art instead."

He shook his head still staring at the book, "No. I think I already like what I see."

When he glanced up to meet her gaze, she immediately blushed. And to her surprise, so did he.

"I meant, your art..." he muttered, embarrassed.

She nodded and replied, "Of course. What can I do for you?"

Rummaging in the pocket of his khaki pants, he pulled out an intricately carved skeleton key. It's strange square shape intrigued the artist, as well as piqued her curiosity.

"This was the key to my father's study. He passed a few years ago...and well, I'm not the best at keeping up with things. So I thought it'd be a good idea to have it where I couldn't lose it."

Aqua nodded again, tucking an ocean colored lock of hair behind her ear and ducking under the counter again searching for her pencil and sketchbook.

"Where do you think you'll want it?" She queried as she found her tools.

"Over my heart," he replied, as she lifted up too quickly and rammed her head into the lip of the counter.

"Damn," she cursed loudly.

When she stood rubbing the back of her head and blushing even more brightly, he asked, "Are you alright?"

She waved his question away with a quick, "I'm fine." Over his heart? Oh dear. He'll have to take his shirt off. And with all that muscle....  
Oh jeez. She was in trouble.

"Are you sure?" He interrupted her thoughts.

"Huh? Oh yeah, of course," she replied, quickly forcing herself into professional mode. She examined the key carefully, sketching the key lightly on her current favorite pad, then adding in shading.

"I suppose I'll just...." he trailed off, pointing to the chair she had occupied previously.

She looked up briefly, her mind still on her work, and glanced at the chair. "Oh, sure. Make yourself at home."  
When she heard him settle, she asked absently, "So, any particular reason for a key and not some other memento?"

When he was quiet for a moment she glanced up again to see him staring at his hands. "Sorry, didn't mean to pry."

He shook his head, and she returned to sketching. He spoke softly, "Ever since he died, I feel like I've been locking myself away. It's been years now and I keep going back to his study, like I'll find something in there to fill the hole he left in my life."  
He sighed and listened to the scratching of the pencil on paper. "But, I realized recently, locking myself away wasn't going to fix this. The longer it goes on, the lonelier I feel. More separate. Different."

She stopped sketching and looked up to find a deep sadness she recognized written on his features. Putting her pencil down delicately, on top of the rough sketch of the key, she replied softly, "I understand."

He looked up at her, and indeed a feeling of understanding passed between them. Two lost and lonely children reflected back at each other. She could see the lost kid she used to be, dwelling within him, and she felt...strange.

Clearing his throat he said with much bravado, "Anyways, thanks for taking this for me. I've wanted to do this for a while."

"Of course. It's no problem. I love walk ins with a challenge," she told him, gesturing to the key. "Do you want color on this?"

He nodded, "As good of an exact replica as you can would be best. I'm willing to pay whatever you think is reasonable."

"I'll have to take photos of the key so I can have a reference. I'll need a few days to finish the full picture," she explained, while walking to her studio and grabbing her camera off one of the cluttered counters.

He agreed easily. She felt his eyes on her as she angled the camera to capture the best lighting for the picture. She snapped it quickly.  
"We'll make an appointment for the actual tattooing. I'll need three days. What's your availability?"

He looked thoughtful while she grabbed her shiny new appointment book. It only had a few past names and times written in it, but she was so proud of it.  
"I'm free this Friday at 5pm, if that's open for you," he said musing.

She smiled slightly and wrote down his name, the date, and time he was to be there. "I can do that easily."

He returned her half smile, and asked, "I don't think I ever caught your name?"

"My name is Aqua," she replied.

"Well, Aqua, it's been good meeting you. And I suppose I'll see you on Friday?" He said, standing up and heading towards the door.

"Of course. We have a date...appointment, I mean," she replied blushing.

He grinned at her, said, "See you then," and left the shop.


End file.
